Pacquiao had apologised on Facebook, saying he was sorry for hurting people and was “not condemning LGBT” but was still against gay marriage.

But Pacquiao’s Instagram account seemed to back up his initial comments as a Bible quote appeared, reading: “If a man has sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They are to be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads.”

The post was up for around two hours and received more than 18,000 likes before being deleted. The Filipino news agency ABS-CBN captured a screenshot of the post before it was removed.

However, Pacquiao – still wearing his Nike sports gear – insisted the row had not affected him.

“I’m happy. I’m always happy because God is with me,” he said.

Pacquiao, who was beaten by Floyd Mayweather last year in the “fight of the century”, is due to face Timothy Bradley Jr in April and will then step up his career in politics.